Why Announcing Your Goals Is Sometimes A Bad Idea

People who are always talking accomplish little while those who are actually making major moves have no time to be always talking. Remember the old adage, ‘empty barrels make the most noise’? Or, ‘great talkers are little doers’?

There is more satisfaction in telling people about accomplishments and work in progress than future plans. The future is not certain so don’t speak too far ahead, especially online, because once something is published on the internet it stays there forever. Even if you think it has been deleted it lurks somewhere in cyberspace. The practice of announcing things and then changing the mind may undermine a person’s reputation as being able to deliver. So before openly talking about your goal be sure to think it through carefully and be confident in your commitment to complete it.

Telling everyone about a goal creates expectations which may be crushed if this goal is not achieved. People would have been excited over nothing. Quiet pursuit of a goal creates no expectations and subsequently no disappointment, should the task be abandoned. Although abandoning a goal might be the best move, people tend not to tolerate excuses after having heard a confident declaration of grand plans.

Conversely, secretly working on a goal creates a pleasant surprise if it is accomplished. A surprise makes a greater impact than a premature announcement of future aspirations.

The future is not always what we planned. Experience has taught me to keep my mouth closed. ‘Easier said than done’?

4 Comments

This is a really great tip and life lesson. Sometimes, I think we say things out loud to try and convince ourselves, but you’re right, it does more harm than good. Thanks for bringing it to my attention 🙂

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July 10, 2017

Jaja Wallace

In some cases it does more harm other times it may help. Before announcing a goal it is wise to think about our intentions for announcing it and if we are prepared to go through with it to completion. We must also think about our level of confidence and if we can deal with discouragement.

I agree. There’s another energetic factor to “keeping my mouth shut about any goal”, it’s to conserve energy for its realization and to prevent others’ envy/doubt which will affect its optimum realization.

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July 31, 2017

Jaja Wallace

Exactly, that’s why I prefer to show them what I have accomplished rather than tell them what I am going to do. When you tell some people your goals they project their insecurities on you. When you wait until you achieve the goal to show them they can’t discourage you. I’ll be talking less about my future plans, instead I’ll just show results when things get done.